The Harlem Renaissance influenced the American culture greatly. The Harlem Renaissance was one of the first movements that created an opportunity for the White culture to appreciate the Black culture. For example, the Jazz movement came forth from the Harlem renaissance. Jazz and blues musicians such emerged to create black culture integration into the white culture. In particular, provided the Black race awareness of the racial and socioeconomic problems of Black.
Moreover, the civil rights movement was the movement in which Blacks empowered themselves to fight for social and economic equality in America. Essentially, it was attempt to successfully integrate the Black race into the incredible White dominated social structure.
In 1955, a young man by the name of Emmett Till was found brutally beaten, shot in the head and thrown in a river near Money, Mississippi. The 14-year-old boy from Chicago, Illinois made a pass at a white woman in a store. When the White men of the town heard wind of this, they made strides to kill the young boy. However, the boy’s death was not in vain, as it was one of the events that sparked the beginning of the Civil Right’s movement. The tragedy of the boy’s death brought together civil right’s activists all over. Before this African American studies class, I had never heard of this tragic event. I was very saddened that such an event ever occurred. However, this history is the sad reality of the American past. Although the history is gruesome, it is important that we continue to learn about these events in order to gain a better understanding of what the civil rights movement was and how it affects our daily lives today.
The SNCC was established in the 1960’s as the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. Originally, this committee was set up fro sit-in’s and freedom rides. However, as the 1970’s drew closer, the committee changed their names to the Student National Coordinating Committee in order to satisfy the changing environment of the civil right’s movement. Since the climate of the civil right’s movement was changing from non-violent protests to more violent tactics, the committee changed their philosophies to match the volatile environment of the movement.